Program To Increase The Number Of 5-Unit Mathematics Graduates In Kiryat Malachi

Kiryat Malachi is a small city in the Southern District of Israel, with a population of approximately 22,000. It was created as a development town, absorbing mostly Jewish immigrants who arrived from Iraq and North Africa during the early days of the State. In recent years it has also become home to new immigrants from Ethiopia (who increased the city’s population by 40 percent) as well as to many Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The city’s school system is highly fragmented, and of the 4,300 students who reside in the city, 1,700 senior high school students are enrolled in seven different schools. These high schools belong to independent charter networks, including Amit, Darca and Haredi school networks. An additional 300 students study in regional and private schools outside of the city.

As per the excellence tracks in mathematics, only two students in the city passed the 5-unit mathematics matriculation two years ago. This followed a sharp decline in the rate of 5-unit students from 5.2% in 2010 to 0.4% in 2014. Since this low point, the city has been in a consistent process of improvement, with 1.9% of students in 2015 and 3.9% in 2016 (12 students) graduating five units, compared to the national average of 11.4% in the same year.

Adding to this difficult circumstance, there are high dropout rates at every transition stage from 9^th grade to 12^th grade, with as many as 50% of students dropping out between 9^th and 10^th grade and between 10^th and 11^th grade. The city’s education department therefore acknowledges they need to work on this leaking pipeline and to strengthen its foundations starting at an earlier stage.

Therefore, as a first step, in collaboration with the Education ministry, Kiryat Malachi’s education department has appointed a program director and begun to map the landscape and analyze the data. As a result, they are now proposing a program to triple the rate of 5-unit graduates in three years from 12 to 35, and to reduce drop out between 9^th and 10^th grade from 50% to 10%.

They propose to achieve this by integrating between five programs that are funded by the foundation and are already operating in Kiryat Malachi. They include the Achva Academic College which sends its teacher students to do their internship in Kiryat Malchi; Amit and Darca networks that operate a school-based intervention program to increase excellence in mathematics; Teach First Israel, that trains and mentors new teachers; and Kol Yisrael Haverim, which executes a whole school intervention program focusing on the 5-unit track in two schools.

Over the three years of the program, the Davidson Institute will coach an in-school professional development program for the 30 mathematics teachers in the city. In addition, the teachers will participate in a city-wide mathematics teacher community, facilitated by Davidson, and will take part in a three-day summer institute every year. The goal is for there to be two strong 5-unit teachers in each school, as well as improving the level of mathematics teaching on all levels throughout the city.

The head of the education department and the program director will lead the program, with guidance from a steering committee and mentoring by an organizational consultant.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 254